WND-TV

U.S. conducts dual terror raids in Africa

Seize al-Qaida leader behind 1998 embassy bombings

Published: 10/06/2013 at 4:33 PM

(FOX NEWS) Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that a pair of raids conducted in Africa by U.S. special forces signaled the ongoing determination of the United States to bring terrorists to justice and sent the message that “members of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations literally can run but they can’t hide.”

The Pentagon confirmed Saturday night that U.S. special forces had captured alive Abu Anas al Libi in Tripoli, Libya. Libi, also known as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, was wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The other Africa operation targeted the Al Shabaab militant group in Somalia linked to last month’s Kenya mall attack that killed more than 60 people.

“On October 5, the Department of Defense, acting under military authorities, conducted an operation to apprehend longtime Al Qaeda member Abu Anas al Libi in Libya,” Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in a statement. “He is currently lawfully detained under the law of war in a secure location outside of Libia. Abu Anas al Libi has been indicted in the Southern District of New York in connection with his alleged role in Al Qaeda’s conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and to conduct attacks against U.S. interests worldwide, which included Al Qaeda plots to attack U.S. forces stationed in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Somalia, as well as the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.”